by Bert | Aug 30, 2017 | South Carolina
A man who once awaited his execution will now receive an entirely new trial due to multiple errors committed by the state. Kenneth Simmons was convicted in Dorchester County, South Carolina for the 1996 rape and murder of Lily Bell Boyd, and was sentenced to death for...
by OpenFile | May 29, 2014 | South Carolina, The Open File Blog
In another dramatic turn of events related to Charleston prosecutor Scarlett Wilson, an attorney has accused the public defender in Wilson’s circuit, Ashley Pennington, of warning people in his office not to criticize Wilson for ethical improprieties. The...
by OpenFile | Mar 10, 2014 | Colorado, South Carolina, The Open File Blog
Radley Balko at The Washington Post has written a new post, “Judge says prosecutors should follow the law. Prosecutors revolt,” questioning prosecutors who take offense at courts that call out misconduct. Discussing the controversy surrounding South...
by OpenFile | Feb 27, 2014 | South Carolina, The Open File Blog
The president of the South Carolina Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers has asked the Attorney General of South Carolina to investigate the office of Ninth Circuit Solicitor Scarlett Wilson for prosecutorial misconduct. In the letter, posted here by Fitnews, the...
by OpenFile | Dec 18, 2013 | South Carolina, The Open File Blog
Earlier this month we posted about the inflammatory speech of a South Carolina Supreme Court Justice at a conference for prosecutors. Justice Donald Beatty railed against his audience for unethical conduct, telling the group, “For too long we [the Court] have looked...
